Russ Connell of Denton challenges himself with the task of transforming something as industrial and rigid as metal into something soft.

As a child, he enjoyed impromptu art sessions with his creative mother in Austin. A graphic designer, she loved art and introduced her son to working with clay. The endless possibilities of clay inspired him, as did the Texas Hill Country’s impressive scenery and nonstop wildlife show.

Connell grew up near ruggedly scenic Lake Travis, where deer run wild. He graduated from high school and headed to the University of North Texas to mold and shape his art education.

The fascination with clay quickly transitioned into an interest in steel when he found himself in a welding class.

“When I started welding, the materials just seemed so industrial and something that will stay with us forever,” he says. “And I like that.”

Yet some of his large sculptures feel as if they were hand-molded, like clay.

“I really like the challenge of trying to bring that formation which I admired in clay to metal,” Connell says. “I try to soften up the metal and move it around to have more of a malleable structure.”

He worked as an apprentice under metal sculptor Larry Whiteley of Irving for two years. Some of Whiteley’s stunning, organic-looking works are found in design stores around Texas, including Forty Five Ten in Dallas.

You can see Whiteley’s influence in Connell’s sculptures that involve trees and twigs.

With one semester left in school, Connell is closing in on a fine arts degree specializing in metalsmithing and jewelry design. He is already showing his art in Dallas galleries, and his work can be found year-round at the Artisan’s Collective in the Bishop Arts District.

A bust of a deer made from steel reflects his Central Texas origins. He’s also putting the torch to a large-scale longhorn in his Denton garage studio right now.

He dreams on a large scale, too.

“I just realized that I could make things bigger than myself, you know, things that really grab people’s attention,” he says.

Connell also has tried to put emotion into something rigid by creating characters that he calls “boxed children.” Some of these pieces are up to 8 feet tall and are intended for outdoor installations, though he does make smaller versions.

“This series has a sense of playfulness, imagination and creativity through, again, what seems to be a very industrial medium,” he says.

For Connell, like many artists, one project feeds into another. He makes nature-inspired jewelry, such as a stunning copper ring fashioned like a bird’s nest with freshwater pearls tucked inside.

With just over two decades of life, this young artist is welding together a solid future in art.